


Away in Starlight

by dreaminghour



Series: Shuffle Fics [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen, Visiting Dignitaries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 20:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19934014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreaminghour/pseuds/dreaminghour
Summary: Merlin follows a mysterious figure into the forest while visiting another kingdom.





	Away in Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> A flash fic that got away from me, first I intended two drabbles, but now it's 400 words so I'm calling it a vignette. Inspiration at the end.

At the eastern gate the grass grew tall, and Merlin saw old chains had rusted the iron doors together, just as he’d been told. His eyes flashed as he looked over his shoulder into the night courtyard before he shoved against the doors, creating just a slender enough gap to slip through, following the cloaked figure into the forest.

He’d noticed them from the ramparts straight away, immediately drawn to the shimmer of starlight bending away from a tower window in the royal quarters. He had resisted floating down to the ground, bounding down the stairs instead nearly losing the figure who strolled past guards without being seen. He recalled the contingency from Camelot had been emphatically told there was no magic in this realm.

Merlin was dressed in plain clothing, here as a King’s Man rather than as the High Wizard. The King who had only recently come into his own, visiting a foreign land, in a sensitive political situation, it was not exactly unsafe.

The trees swallowed the figure, turning the dark into the pitch of midnight. Merlin’s feet were wrapped in a charm of silence. There was a scurrying of animals, but their footsteps were clear enough to follow.

Suddenly the moonlight cut into a clearing and cast the figure into relief. The hood was thrown back to reveal the youngest prince, barely out of childhood, brown hair cut short, starlight glittering on his dark skin.

Out of the forest came a dozen cloaked people, one brushing right past Merlin, but ignoring him. With the sound of a wind from a deep and airless vault, Merlin was robbed of sound, the whole forest holding back it’s secrets for a moment as the stars descended. Pinpricks of light circled the prince’s head. He let his cloak fall, and he was wearing simple clothes, all in cleanest white. Stardust soaked into the fabric until he shone brighter than the moon and Merlin saw a final figure approached. They faced the prince, long hair hanging in smooth ringlets, reflecting his glow like tarnished silver.

Merlin recognized the face, but he couldn’t believe it.

“Come, my prince,” The high priestess said, “Nothing ails thee where we are headed.”

She placed his hand into the crook of her elbow and turned back to darkness. When Merlin stepped to follow the beacon, he found himself in the center of the clearing, completely alone.

**Author's Note:**

> The two songs that I listened to while writing the first go of this were Away by Mediaeval Baebes and Daydream by Carly Comando.


End file.
